St. Louis County Area Mayors Share 2026 Community Updates at Annual Luncheon

Three mayors took the stage at Black Woods Event Center in Proctor on Thursday to lay out their most ambitious plans yet, with a contested Hermantown data center environmental review casting a shadow over an otherwise forward-looking afternoon hosted by the Hermantown Area Chamber.

Proctor Mayor Chad Ward set the tone early. "While we serve different municipalities, our region moves forward together," Ward told the crowd at the annual State of the Cities luncheon, framing the gathering not as three separate municipal reports but as a unified regional vision. Each mayor reinforced that theme, emphasizing that progress in one city ripples across the broader area.

The sharpest details came from Rice Lake, where Mayor Jayme Hein outlined a pair of major projects that will reshape the city's infrastructure over the next several years. A $3.3 million federal grant will fund water and sewer expansion in 2026, work directly tied to Minnesota Power's planned industrial park. Looking further out, Hein described a Rice Lake Road Corridor overhaul scheduled for 2027 through 2029: a roughly $34 million project that would install four roundabouts along the corridor, which she called the county's largest undertaking to date.

Hein also addressed the civic climate in Rice Lake, noting that increased public engagement has brought more residents to council meetings, even as some of those sessions have grown tense and run long. She urged continued involvement ahead of a special election in November, when two council seats and the mayor's seat will be on the ballot.

In Hermantown, the conversation centered on a proposed data center and its entangled environmental review. A group has filed suit against the city, arguing that the Alternative Urban Areawide Review process is insufficient and demanding a full Environmental Impact Statement instead. The mayor acknowledged the public pressure, promising that community concerns would shape the next phase of review, though the plaintiffs have made clear they consider the AUAR an inadequate substitute for the more rigorous EIS process.

Hermantown Mayor Wayne Bouche and the other speakers used the forum to outline priorities spanning infrastructure, sports tourism, housing, and future business development, according to WDIO's coverage of the event. The annual luncheon, held each year by the Hermantown Area Chamber, drew attention this cycle not only for its project announcements but for the undercurrent of community division over development decisions that several of the presentations had to address directly.

The question now is whether the funding commitments, litigation timelines, and November election will align closely enough to keep these regional ambitions on track.